StarCraft II

HomeStory Cup always provides some of the best StarCraft action over the course of a casual weekend. This time will be no exceptions as some of the best talent from all around the world make their way to Germany to compete for the first place prize of $10,000.

After a lot of guessing and riddle solving the final 32 players have been released and have been split into 8 insane groups.

Last year this may have been the group of death for Nerchio but right now he's on top of his game, earning a spot in TSL 4, winning the Fnatic Invitational. He seems to be ready for HSC and should make it through this starting group.

Socke is a player who has always performed well, recently he has taken his game to a higher level having good results at Spring Arena 2 as well as a respectable showing at the Spring Championship. The group fits him so well and we will yet again see a better Socke than before.

After spending a few months out in Korea ToD made his return to Europe at DreamHack, his performance was disappointing more than anything after being eliminated in group stage 2. That raises a lot of questions about how he copes with the travel from Korea to foreign tournaments. If he shows up to the tournament ready he's for sure a contender in this group.

Naama is a player who's known for his incredible Banshee play but also for having a very all in play style. His group features 3 players who know him very well and it may be tough for him this weekend. With his last major tournament win dating back to 2010 it's been a long wait for him. He's by far the underdog in this group I think he'll shape the group

Of course the main talking point of this group is IdrA. He has more pressure on his shoulders than ever before, people are writing him off as a mediocre Zerg player. For the first time in his StarCraft 2 career he has something to prove.

Ukraine seems to be producing StarCraft stars left and right, Bly is a player who's quickly showing how good he is. despite coming last in his group he still made it to group stage 3 at DreamHack Summer. He's someone who if not taken seriously can go very far in this tournament.

Bling's recent performance at the WCS UK finals were far from what was expected. Losing 2-0 to Demuslim and then bombing out in shock results to Simba 2-1. In an interview afterwards he admitted he never took Simba seriously. Let's hope he doesn't under estimate anyone in his group or he will face an early exit.

The last player in the group is Cloud, the Italian Terran has shown before he can take games off top players. However he's by far the underdog in this group. He is capable of an upset but I wouldn't be surprised to see him make an early exit.

It's hard to really call this group at all, the clear favourite of the group is Ret. The guy's playing phenomenal beating Demuslim 3-2 in the R16 at NASL and then qualifying for TSL4. With the way Ret has been playing it will be tough for anyone to take a game off him and he could even make a deep run in this tournament.

We haven't seen a lot from the Russian Terran Happy. Happy hasn't made the big stage in a while and a lot of people have forgotten about him. However his past performances haven't been as good as he would have hoped. Happy presents a unique style to Terran and with his godly micro it's hard for anyone to deal with him. As long as his TvP is polished for this weekend we should see him go through this group.

The Korean protoss player ReaL has also been very quiet recently, more so known for his online play ReaL has a very scary playstyle which players must be ready for, his deadly timing attacks can cause even the best players in the world to drop maps or even a series too him so his group must be ready or he could very well sneak through or cause an upset in this group.

Incontrol is a player with a divided StarCraft scene, many say he hasn't got it in him to perform on the big stage and he's more of a caster however there's only one man who can answer the doubters. Incontrol works hard and practices a lot. He may be the underdog in this group but he can certainly get into the top 2 if he shows up ready to play.

After his performance at MLG a lot was expected of SaSe going into DreamHack his performance wasn't as amazing as people were hoping for but what I did show was he was able to travel around the world putting up results. This weekend he's had some time to recharge from his trip and this tournament setting is a lot different. SaSe is the favourite to go through in first place in this group if all goes well he could find himself in the final 4.

Goody is someone people are now learning to take serious. He showed at MLG Spring Arena what can happen if he isn't taken seriously by 2-0ing MMA. Unfortunately for him he's in a group with three players who know his playstyle and know what to expect. Although he is fresh and ready to go this weekend will be very tough for him.

Just like Bly the Ukrainian zerg Dimaga is one to be feared. Every tournament he plays he plays to win and it wouldn't be a shock to see him go through in first place. He has experience vs everyone in this group and has the skill to beat all of them however the deciding factor will be how he fairs in ZvZ it will be him and Darkforce battling for 2nd place.

Darkforce's results speak for themselves. Online he's a wrecking ball winning countless ESL cups but this weekend he's in his home country and in a laid back tournament setting, like I said above it will come down to him vs Dimaga for second place in the group. It's tough to call but I give the advantage to Dimaga.